CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Arts Prize family is about to grow by several members, following the naming Wednesday of eight winners for 2017.

Among those being added to the list: two visual artists, a novelist, a poet, a conductor, and a choreographer.

The board of trustees announced the winners Wednesday. The winners of the 67th annual awards will be formally honored at a public ceremony beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29 at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The winners are:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Russell Atkins, a Cleveland-based poet and musician whose work since the 1940s has consistently challenged conventions of literary form and content. Through the journal "Free Lance," which he co-founded, he developed and spread a wide array of new voices and styles, including his own "concrete" poetry.

Mid-Career Artist Award: Two prizes are awarded to artists who have received national recognition in addition to regional and local acclaim and have resided in Northeast Ohio. The winners for 2017 are:

Sarah Kabot: A visual artist active in a wide range of media including drawing, watercolor, photography, and sculpture. Kabot burst to prominence in 2006 with a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and has gone on to win a variety of awards and grants and take part in shows all over Northeast Ohio and the U.S.

Jeannette Sorrell: Conductor, harpsichordist, and founder of Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's baroque orchestra. Under her baton, the now 25-year-old orchestra has grown into an early-music powerhouse, producing a steady stream of acclaimed recordings and appearing all over Northeast Ohio and at prestigious venues around the world.

Emerging Artist Awards: Two prizes are awarded to artists currently living in Northeast Ohio or who have resided, worked, or studied here, and who show promise and have produced significant work. This year's winners are:

Christi Birchfield: Manager of Ink House Zygote Press and a Cleveland-based visual artist whose abstract work using bleach paste and canvas addresses human mortality and the long-term effects of time and entropy. Her work has appeared in several local and national exhibitions and is part of the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Kevin Keating: Author of two well-received novels, "The Natural Order of Things" and "The Captive Condition," and a prolific and widely-published writer of essays and short stories. A graduate of Columbia College and Cleveland State University, Keating is currently pursuing a degree from Southern New Hampshire University and teaching at Baldwin Wallace University.

The Robert Bergman Prize: This award honoring "passionate leadership" and a life that "communicate[s] the joys, excitement, and deep human relevance of the arts" goes to Grafton Nunes, president of the Cleveland Institute of Art since 2010. During his tenure to date, the school has undergone a renovation, seen an increase in enrollment, and stepped up as an anchor of Cleveland's University Circle.

The Martha Joseph Prize: This annual award is given to an individual or organization whose "exceptional commitment, vision, leadership, or philanthropy" has made a "significant contribution to the vitality and stature" of the arts in the region. This year, the award goes to public art advocate Albert Albano, whose work at the Intermuseum Conservation Association has benefited Cleveland through the preservation of iconic works and led to the redevelopment of what is now the Hingetown District.

Each year, the Cleveland Arts Prize also looks back on a past winner. This year that "special honoree" is Kathryn Karipides. A dancer and choreographer, Karipides spent much of her career teaching and performing at Western Reserve University, where she was on the faculty. After her retirement in 1998, she went on (and continues) to serve as a tireless advocate for modern dance.

Performances will take place June 29 at the awards ceremony, hosted by former Cleveland Arts Prize winner Dee Perry. Tickets to that event, $75-$250, will be available starting May 15. For more information or tickets, go to clevelandartsprize.org.